Personnel or object transfer apparatus and method



Feb. 24, 1959 w. A. REES, JR 2,

PERSONNEL 0R OBJECT TRANSFER APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed July 2. 1957 United States Patent Q 8 Claims. Cl. 214-14 PERSONNEL OR This invention is concerned with an apparatus and method for transferring personnel, or goods, from a relatively stationary to a moving object or the reverse.

More specifically, the invention concerns apparatus for hoisting and guiding a vehicle (which may carry personnel), from'a relatively stationary object or location, and guiding the same to a definite spot on a moving object.

In addition, the arrangement is such that the transferis renderedfquitesimple and extremely safe, by providing for a transference of the support of the personnel carry ing vehicle from the hoist to the guide, and thereafter easing the vehicle gradually into gentle contact with the;

moving object.

Heretofore, particularly in offshore drilling operations, there have been many 'different types of more or less makeshift arrangements employed in transferring personnel from. drilling rigs to boats and vice versa. In such operation, there is considerable danger involved and the accident rate has been relatively high. Such transfer of personnel from thebob bing deck of a boatto.

the drilling platform which is situated quite high off the water involves a ticklish operation in that the movements of the boat are erratic and include both verticaland horizontal motion. Furthermore," the boat deck isrelative ly small; and, where a boxlike carrier or vehicle isemployed for such transfers, there is relatively great chance of damaging the superstructure ofthe boatin addition to causing an upset ofthef'personnelvehicle Withattendant likelihood of injuries to the personnel. i

Consequently, it is an object of this invention to overcome the ab Ve indicated difficulties in transferring 'p er sound or materials from a. stationary platform to th deck of a relatively small boat in rough water.

Another object of the invention is to provideimproved apparatus for transferring personnel or goods between:

two relatively moving objects, as well as between a stationary and one moving object Another object of the invention is to provide apersonneltransfer device that is simple in structure arid operatiorn while at the same time being relatively in expensive to construct, and also providing for safe and ing said personnel, and a hoist means for raising and lowering said support means. The device additionally comprises a guide means detachably fastened. to said moving object and extending to said structnre. The device also includes a means for applying tension force to. said guide means of a magnitude greater than the gross t r '70 means for transferring lift ofjsaid personnel support weight of. said support means. whenfully loaded, and

means from said hoist means tosaid guide means.

The invention may be also briefly described as .tqrits teaching concerning. amethod. The invention is concerned with certain steps to be applied. in a method of transferring personnel from a relatively stationary locale to a moving object. Such method is onetwherein'sai d personnel arehoisted fromfsaidfstationary. locale by a vehicle, and said vehicle is guided toward saidmoving object by a flexible guide means atta ched to the moving object. The invention. is concerned'with sucha method,

which includes the steps of: applying t e'nsiori to the guide means sufficient to at least support thegross. load of said loaded'vehicle; transferring support of the vehicle from the hoist to the guide mean id' q ua i u ti g;

the vehicle along theguidemea s; i q Coma withthe moving object, i Th6 fomgQingafld/othel' QblFQi and benefits of the invention will be apparent to n'yonefsltillejd in the art,

and in connection 'with"the disclosure set forth more fully below and illustrated in the drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1' is a schematicshojw' g of a drilling rigplatform with a personnel carrying boat alongside, and showing the transfer apparatus in operationf Fig. 2 is an" enlarged; longitudinal cross-section view showing the personnel transfer platform or vehicle in detail; and i Fig. 3 is a plan view trated iu Fig. 2;

Referring to Fig. 1', a specific illustration of an appliof the personnel. platform lllllS'.

cation of the invention will be, described.

There is shown afplatformll that is'supported from the floor of a body'of water 12,"b'y means of pilings or other support structures 13; Carried on platform 11 there is a conventional utility crane or hoist 14. Hoist 14 has a pair of pulleysor slieaves 17 and 18, overwhich pass respectivelya =hoistcabl 19;and a guide line 20.

Pulleys, 17 and '18, are shown quite far apart on the boom of hoist 14. a This has been done merely for par poses of" clarity in the illustration; and explanation of the invention. Thus, these pulleys may be locatedside by side on a common shaft, or otherwise situated in; any" illustrated. Similarly guide line 20"rnay be reeled in and out by means'of a power drum 24illustrat'ed. In 'addi tion, at drum 24 there must be provided a slip clutch drive (not shown), or other arrangement in connection with the reeling in of line 20; 'so that a desired amount of tension force may be applied 'to line 20, and maintained at a given magnitude; It will be understood that the operator of the hoist conld manually adjust the tension applied to the line 20Jin order to accomplish the desired results; but if desired, an automatic constant tension drive arrangement might be provided. In either case, the line 20 will of necessity move up and-down with the movements "of the deck of the boat 26'.

The free end oflineTZfl. is detachably fastened to any convenient fastening fixture 25, that is bolted or other Wise strongly attached 1 to. the. deck of a personnel-carry ing boat 26. It will be noted that the boat 26 includes, as part of its. super-structure, a cabin 27. Furthermore, the size of the deck space near the bow of boat 26 is relatively small in comparison with the overall size of a personnel-carrying platform, trated.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be noted that; the

or vehicle, 28, that is illuspersonnel platform, or vehicle, 28 includes a roundbase or platform 32 which has a low footrailing 33 around;

grally, or otherwise securely attached to a collar35 Retr at Eeb- 4 1 .9

horizontal braces 37.

situated at the top of the main structure of the vehicle or personnel platform 28; 'At a convenient'height, part way up on the support members 34, there is a hand rail 36 that is fastened to the support members 34 by four The collar 35 has firmly attached thereto a supporting loop 40, to which the end of the cable 19 is attached in any convenient manner,e. g., cable 19 may be looped through the support loop 40 to form an eye 41 in the cable 19, that will be held in place by means of a cable clamp 42.

'There is an additional element attached to the collar 35 for applying variable frictional engagement between the guide line and the collar 35. This element could take numerous different forms, but is here illustrated as being a pivoted dog 45 supported by a pivot pin 46 that is securely held in the body of the collar 35, e. g., by means of a press fit in the collar 35. There is a lever 47 that is integrally formed with the dog 45, and that consequently likewise pivots about pivot pin 46. In addition, there may be a handle portion 48 attached to the extremity of the lever 47.

Again referring to Fig. l, the apparatus, in addition to the method of this invention, will become entirely clear upon an explanation of the operation thereof. It is to be noted that even though the invention has been herein illustrated and described in connection with a specific application that concerns transfer of personnel or goods from a stationary location, e. g., an off-shore drilling rig platform to a relatively moving object, such as a boat or the like; the invention is equally applicable to various other applications such as that of transferring personnel from a large ship to a relatively small boat, or any transfer operation between relatively moving objects. Thus, it is contemplated that the invention applies equally well to transfers made between two moving objects or locations, even though the preferred application of the invention, that has been described herein, is concerned with transfers from a stationary location to a moving object.

The operation will be described in the order of transferring from the stationary platform 11 to a moving object, such as the boat 26. However, it should be understood that the reverse procedure of transferring from the movable boat 26 to the stationary platform 11, may be carried out by reversing the procedure, generally speaking. Since the most difficulty has been encountered heretofore with transferring from the stationary locale to a moving object, it is this order of transfer with which this invention is especially concerned. Therefore, this. order of transfer will be considered in the explanation of operation which follows.

Beginning with the personnel transfer vehicle, or platform 28 located on the drilling rig platform 11, the operation for a transfer of the personnel would be carried out as follows:

After the personnel has stepped onto platform 32 of the vehicle 28, it will be hoisted and swung out over the side of the rig platform 11, and held suspended there while the guide line 20 is lowered (through collar 35) down to the deck of the boat 26. Then the free end of line 20 will be hooked or otherwise fastened onto the fixture on the deck of the boat 26. After this, the line 20 will be reeled in until taut; and thereafter sufficient tension will be applied to this guide line 20 to at least keep the line taut until the personnel vehicle 28 has been lowered to within the near vicinity of the boat 26. The suspended vehicle 28 will be stopped allowing sufficient clearance to avoid any contact with the superstructure of the boat, as it moves about on the waves. Now, a next step will be to shift the suspension of the vehicle 28 from the cable 19 to the guide line 20; However, before a transfer of the suspending force applied to personnel vehicle 28 is accomplished the tension on 4 guide line 20 must be applied, or increased, to sufficient amplitude so that the personnel vehicle 28 may be suspended from line 20 with its entire load of goods or personnel. Next, the brake carried by personnel vehicle 28, which includes the dog 45, will be applied as the hoisting tension on cable 19 is slacked off. This will cause transfer of the suspending force for personnel vehicle 28, from cable 19 to the friction braking action that is applied between the collar 35 and the guide line 20, by reason of the wedging action of dog 45.

After this transfer has been carried out, the vehicle 28 will be moving up and down in unison with the deck of the boat 26, while it is suspended above the deck by friction gripping action on guide line 20. Finally, the remaining distance to the deck of boat 26 may be traversed, by merely releasing the gripping action caused by the dog 45, sufficiently to allow personnel vehicle 28 to slide smoothly down into gentle contact with the deck of boat 26. It will be observed that this final gentle lowering of personnel vehicle 28 may be accomplished at any desired speed so as to provide a smooth and gentle contact with the deck of the boat 26. Such gentle contact is made possible by reason of the suspension of the personnel vehicle 28 from guide line 20 in a frictional manner so that the personnel vehicle 28 is continuously moving in exact synchronism with movements of the deck of the boat 26, while superimposed upon this synchronous movement is the gradual lowering of the personn'el vehicle 28, by the controlled release of the frictional engagement with the guide line 20.

It is pointed out that the method of this invention is not limited to the illustrated and described apparatus above, but may be carried out with many other and non-equivalent forms and designs of apparatus with equal facility. Furthermore, many widely different designs of apparatus for carrying out this invention, will become apparent to anyone skilled in the art upon an understanding of the present disclosure.

While certain embodiments of the invention have been shown and described above with particularity, in accordance with the applicable statutes, this is not to be taken as in any way limiting the invention, but merely as being descriptive thereof.

It is claimed:

1. A personnel or object transfer device for transferring from a relatively stationary structure to a moving object, comprising in combination support means for carrying said personnel, hoist means for raising and lowering said support means, guide means detachably fastened to said moving object and extending to said structure, means for applying tension force to said guide means of a magnitude at least equal to the gross weight of said support means when fully loaded, and means for transferring lift of said personnel support means from said hoist means to said guide means.

2. A personnel or object transfer device for transferring from a relatively stationary structure to a moving object, comprising in combination support means for carrying said personnel, hoist means for raising and lowering said support means, flexible guide means detachably fastened to said moving object and extending to. said structure, means for applying tension force to said guide means of a magnitude at least equal to the gross weight of said support means when fully loaded, means for frictionally engaging said flexible guide means to transfer lift of said personnel support means from said hoist means to said guide means, said frictional means being adjustable in order to permit controlled descent of said support means while moving in unison with movements of said moving object.

3. A personnel or object transfer device for transferring from a relatively stationary structure to a moving object, comprising in combination platform support means for carrying said personnel, hoist means for raising and lowering said support means, a guide line, means for detachably fastening one end of said line to said moving object, means for applying tension force to the other end of said line including means for permitting movement of said line in unison with said moving object, and means associated with said platform for frictionally engaging said guide line to support the platform thereby and allow controlled descent of the platform while moving in unison with movements of said moving object.

4. A personnel or object transfer device for transferring from a relatively stationary structure to a moving object, comprising in combination a platform for carrying said personnel, upstanding support members centrally located on said platform, hoist means for raising and lowering said support means including a cable, a guide line, means for detachably fastening one end of said line to said moving object, a guide-way carried by said support members near the top thereof and cooperating with said guide line to determine the path of travel of the platform when near the moving object, means for applying tension force to the other end of said line including means for permitting movement of said line in unison with said moving object, said tension force being at least equal to the gross weight of said platform when fully loaded, friction gripping means associated with said guide-way for engaging said guide line, and means for adjusting the frictional engagement of said gripping means to permit controlled descent of said platform to said moving object while moving in unison therewith.

5. A personnel or object transfer device for transferring from a relatively stationary structure to a moving object, comprising in combination a platform for carrying said personnel, upstanding support members centrally located on said platform, hoist means for raising and lowering said support means including a cable, means for attaching said cable to said support members near the top thereof, a guide line, means for detachably fastening one end of said line to said moving object, a collar fastened to said support members near the top thereof and adapted to have said guideline pass therethrough to determine the path of travel of the platform when near the moving abject, means for applying tension force to the other end of said line including means for permitting movement of said line in unison with said moving object, said tension force being at least equal to the gross weight of said platform when fully loaded, a pivoted dog cooperating with said collar for wedging said guide line into frictional engagement with said collar, and a handle for actuating said dog to adjust said wedging action to permit controlled descent of said platform to said moving object while moving in unison with the object in superimposed relation to the descending motion.

6. In a method of transferring personnel from a relatively stationary locale to a moving object, wherein said personnel are hoisted from said stationary locale by a vehicle and said vehicle is guided toward said moving object by a flexible guide means attached to the moving object, the steps of applying tension to the guide means sufficient to at least support the gross load of said loaded vehicle, transferring support of the vehicle from the hoist to the guide means, and gradually lowering the vehicle along the guide means into gentle contact with the moving object.

7. An improved method of transferring personnel from a relatively stationary locale to a moving object, wherein said personnel are hoisted from said stationary locale by a vehicle, including the steps of guiding said vehicle in its descent towards said moving object, transferring support for the vehicle from the hoist to the guide, and gradually releasing said support from the guide to allow a gentle descent with no superimposed relative motion between the vehicle and the moving object.

8. An improved method of transferring personnel or goods from a given location to a relatively moving location, including the steps of interconnecting said relatively moving locations by a flexible guide, attaching one end of said guide immovably relative to one of said locations, applying tension force to the other end of said guide at least equal to the gross transfer load, hoisting the load from one location toward the other, transferring support for the load from the hoist to the guide while between the locations, and releasing the support on the guide sufiiciently to allow gentle contact with the other location.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 256,354 Morgan Apr. 11, 1882 623,079 Ellingwood Apr. 11, 1899 FOREIGN PATENTS 269,801 Great Britain Apr. 28, 1927 

